wright



(No Model.)

M. L. WRIGHT.

LAST.

No. 438,671. Patented Oct. 21, 18 90.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- MARCUS L. \VRIGI-IT, OF NElVTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LYSANDERWRIGHT, JR, OF NEWARK, NE\V JERSEY.

LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,671, dated October21, 1890. Application filed February 20, 1890. Serial No. 34:1,193. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARCUS L. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, have invented certain newand usefullmprovei'nents in Last- Block Fasteners, fully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in the lasts employed informing gaiters and similar articles of foot-wear which are notsufficiently elastic or adapted to be opened over the instep to withdrawthe lastblock in order to detach the body of the last after its functionis performed.

The invention consists in the specific construction herein shown anddescribed.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a lon- 2o gitudinal section of alast with its block and having my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 isa plan of the same, and Fig. 3 is a View of the under side of thelast-block.

a is the body of the last, and b the instep 2 5 or last block.

0 is a slit formed in the under side of the block b, and d is anaperture in the body of the last directly opposite the slit 0.

The bent lever is composed of two arms Z and Z at an angle with eachother and pivoted at their junction in the slit 0 by means of the pin p.The arm Z lies wholly within the slit, and is provided at its free endwith a hook or latch e, projected outwardly there- 5 from to engage theside of the aperture (1 when the block is applied to the body of thelast. The arm Z projects from the upper end of the slit, and is providedwith an eye 0, by which it may be conveniently actuated by the 40application thereto of a hook or cord.

A spring sis applied between the bottom of the slit 0 and the arm Z topress the latter with its latch e outward. The aperture (Z is preferablylined with a piece of metal tubing d, as shown in Fig. 1, to protect thesides of the aperture from wear.

As shown in the drawings, the aperture (1 and the hook e (when in itsnormal position) are inclined backwardly to the under surface of theblock b in order to draw the upper end of the block firmly upon the bodyof the last and to force the same forward that its forward end mayengage the undercut edge a of the latter. In applying the block to thelast-body its forward end is abutted against 5 5 the shoulder a upon thebody a fitted thereto, and its opposite end is then pressed toward thelast-body. The latch enters the aperture (Z and engages the upper sideof the same.

To detach the block a hook or cord inserted in the eye 0 of the lever isdrawn backward, thus operating to swing the lever around, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, and to disengage the latch from the side of theaperture d, after which, by the continued Withdrawal of the hook or cordattached to the eye D, the block itself is drawn backward and detachedwholly from the last-body, thus permitting the easy withdrawal of thelatter from the shoe.

The arrangement of the arms of the bent lever at an angle with oneanother forms a bell-crank, with the outer arm Z projecting from theupper end of the slit at an angle with the joint between the body a andthe last-block b. The position of the projecting arm thus enables it toperform another function-namely, to disengage the latch and also to drawthe block backward and remove it from the shoe by the same movement. The8o operator is thus enabled to unlatch the lastblock and remove it fromthe shoe by a single pulling movement upon the arm Z. The tensionapplied to such arm by a hook or cord inserted in the eye 0 operatesfirst by reason of the angular relation of the arm Z and the joint topull the arm out of the slit and disengage the latch, while the samecontinuous pull upon the arm draws the block backward out of the shoe.

I am aware that a last-block has been secured by the engagement of aspring-bolt with a hole in a plate upon the last-block, and that suchlast-block could be withdrawn by pressing a suitable hook into the holeto force out 5 the spring-bolt and then pulling upon the hook towithdraw the last-block from the shoe;

but in my invention a bent lever with arms Z and Z is used instead of asliding bolt, and

a single tension or pull upon the arm Z suffices roo to disengage thelatch and retract the block from the shoe.

I am aware that hooks analogous to mine have been pivoted in recesses inthe under side of a last-block, and I do not therefore claim such hooks,broadly, but disclaim the construction I have described and limit myinvention to a construction in which the hook and its actuatingspringare both secured in the last-block, as described, and the hook isprovided with an arm at such an angle to the joint of the body Ct andblock b that a single pull upon the arm serves to disengage the hook andretract the last-block from the shoe.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim herein,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with the last a, provided with the aperture (Z, of thelast-block Z), provided with the slit 0, the bent lever pivoted to thelast-block in the slit, with arm Z, having the hook e, and the arm Z,projected outside of the slit at an angle with the joint between thelast and the block b, and provided with the eye 0, and the double-armedspring 3, inserted in the slit between the block and the arm l, and thespring, the bent lever, and the last-block being disengaged and detachedfrom the last bya direct pull upon the arm Z, substantially as hereinset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS J. SVVAYZE, HENRY C. HUNT.

